Teddy Bear Hospital Opens Its Doors At Royal Hospital For Sick Children

February 13, 2014 11:58 AM

The Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill is launching a new initiative today to help make children more familiar with healthcare and alleviate any childhood anxieties surrounding medical environments.

The Teddy Bear Hospital is a fun and interactive zone for both inpatients and outpatients, using play to help reduce the stress of hospital environments.

The area will comprise a number of stations that will focus on various aspects of hospital equipment and procedures including X-Rays, CT Scans and plaster casts which have been designed to provide therapeutic play to give patients a greater understanding of healthcare and reduce any associated fears whilst visiting hospital.
Using real and toy medical equipment, the specialist Play staff can prepare children for what might happen while they are in hospital. Using play and a variety of distraction techniques we can help children cope during painful or uncomfortable procedures.

Post procedural role play will also take place where children can be observed playing with equipment this can provide them with an outlet to express feelings about their illness or procedures and allows the opportunity to clear up any misconceptions they may have about their treatment.

Jamie Redfern, General Manager for Hospital Paediatrics at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyd, said: "For many children or young people, coming into hospital can be very daunting. The environment can be frightening with lots of different adults making decisions for them and strange looking equipment that they suspect might hurt. They may be feeling unwell, be in pain or have had a previous traumatic experience. Therefore we can understand why, for some children, hospital can be a very scary place.

"We look forward to welcoming the children into the Teddy Bear Hospital to help make them and their families stay in hospital a more positive experience. The evolution of the Teddy Bear Hospital at the hospital has been made possible, thanks to the funding efforts of Yorkhill Children’s Charity."